Will CRT's degaussing coils progressively damage games?

[BazookaBen]

So this is what my setup looks like. I have my SNES and NES right next to my PVM with lots of games. You can see my HD monitor above it. Whenever I turn one monitor on with the other already on, you can see the degaussing coil's affect the other monitor, with colors and geometry warping momentarily.

Is this magnetic field strong enough to mess with my games, especially over time?

[shmuppyLove]

I'm not an expert, but I'm going to throw this out there --

PROM chips found in game cartridges are electrically programmed when they are manufactured, and can't be erased.

Someone with more knowledge feel free to tell me I'm full of it

[BazookaBen]

PROM chips found in game cartridges are electrically programmed when they are manufactured, and can't be erased.

Sure, but can they be damaged? As in, can the magnetic field contribute to the inevitable bit-rot?

And related, there is a 15" woofer next to my Genesis. That has a pretty big magnet, probably not as powerful as the degaussing coil though...

[CMPXCHG8B]

Cartridges use mask ROMs, and aren't susceptible to bit rot. EPROMS are, but you shouldn't find those in a mass produced cartridge (only prototypes).

Since we're talking about solid state logic here (and not magnetic medium), the only thing that might affect the equipment is a moving magnetic field, which will generate a current when cutting across a conductor. That rules out your subwoofer since the magnet is stationary. The degauss coil in your CRT however is an electronic magnet, so the field from that sucker will expand and contract as the coil is powered and unpowered. However, it is unlikely the field strength from this would be strong enough to induce any kind of meaningful current that would crash the kind of ancient equipment we're talking about.

I sure as shit wouldn't want to stack a box of floppies on a degaussing CRT, but as far as mass produced game cartridges go and their similarly aged consoles- I don't think it's a problem. You might have issues with an XB360 or PS3 (just because they're faster and finer equipment, plus they have disk drives in them)- but even then I kinda doubt anything would happen.

-CMPX

[Ed Oscuro]

Cartridges use mask ROMs, and aren't susceptible to bit rot.

*as susceptible. Bit rot in mask roms is going to be down to deterioration of the various photoetched strata inside the chip itself, and that should take a considerable time. Never heard of magnetic fields being linked to the deterioration of those circuits - be more concerned about voltages.

That rules out your subwoofer since the magnet is stationary. The degauss coil in your CRT however is an electronic magnet, so the field from that sucker will expand and contract as the coil is powered and unpowered.

I'm confused by this. Obviously the magnets are more or less stationary - in these cases it's the magnetic fields they produce that we care about, of course. Any magnet that produces a magnetic field will have a stray magnetic field to some degree. For subwoofers in particular, some people employ "bucking magnets" to redirect the magnetic field.

However, it is unlikely the field strength from this would be strong enough to induce any kind of meaningful current that would crash the kind of ancient equipment we're talking about.

Agreed.

In addition to magnetic disks, I would be careful about placing hard drives of any type (including an original Xbox which contains one) near these magnetic field sources. The consoles themselves should all be shielded, so they don't disrupt the relatively finicky CRTs, and that shielding works in reverse.

Looking at the picture, I would be more concerned about venting and also finding a better solution for that HD monitor than placing it on top of a crushable cardboard tray. The monitors being at different heights alone would be an ergonomic problem, IMO.

[BazookaBen]

Thanks for the info guys, I figured I would have turned up more info on google if it was a risk.

Looking at the picture, I would be more concerned about venting and also finding a better solution for that HD monitor than placing it on top of a crushable cardboard tray. The monitors being at different heights alone would be an ergonomic problem, IMO.

The PVM only has vents on the side, so that's not a huge problem. And I just have the one set of speakers, so I stacked my HD monitor on top of the PVM so I have the correctly centered sound, and so the speakers would be far enough away from my monitors in the small room.

Plus, having the HD monitor at standing height is great for playing fighters. Not the ideal situation, but good enough right now. And the cardboard is some heavy duty stuff used to stack car batteries.

I would like to switch it up because it's not fun to tate the PVM in this situation... really want to play some Layer Section...